Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary - Faculty of Social Sciences

54 IllSTORY OF THE EDITIONS,Hume replies :' Your notion of correcting subtlety of sentiment, is certainlyvery just with regard to morals, which depend uponsentiment; and in politics and natural philosophy, whatevercoiiclusion is contrary to certain matters of fact, mustcertainly be wrong, and there must some error lie somewherein the argutnent, whether we be able to show it or not. Butin metaphysics or theology, I cannot see how either ofthese plain and obvious standards of truth can have place.Nothing there can correct bad reasoning but good reasoning,and sophistry must be opposed by syllogisms. About seventyor eighty years ago, I observe, a principle like that whichyou advance prevailed very much in France alllong soiizephilosophers and beaux esprits. The occasion of it was fhis :Tle famous Mons. Nicole of the Port Royal, in his Pe~pe'tuite'de la Poi, pushed the Protestants very hard upon the impossibilityof the people's reaching a conviction of theirreligion by the way of private judgment ; which required somany disquisitions, reasonings, researches, eruditions, impartiality,and penetration, as not one in a hundred evenamong men of education, is capable of. Mons. Claude andthe Protestants answered him, not by solving his difficulties(which seeins impossible), but by retorting them (which isvery easy). They showed that to reach the way of authoritywhich the Catholics insist on, as long a trail1 of acute reasoning,and as great erudition, was requisite, as would besufficient for a Protestant. We must first prove all thetruths of natural religion, the foundation of morals, thedivine authority of the Scripture, the deference which itcommands to the church, the tradition of the church, &c.The comparison of these controversial writings begot an ideain some, that it was neither by reasoning nor autllority welearn our religion, but by sentiment : and certainly this werea very convenient way, and what a philosopher would be verywell pleased to comply with, if lie could distinguish sentimentfrom education. BLI~ to .all appearance the sentiment ofStockholm, Geneva, Xome ancient and modern, Athens aliclMemphis, have the same characters ; and no sensible innucall iinplicitly assent to ally of them, but from the genent 1ln-i~lc~il~lt~, that as the truth in these subjects is beyoiicll~nn~al~c~kpilc.itj. ; L I I ~ that ils for one's own ease he must actopt solnthI t'i~ct~. t l~tlrcb is lost s:ltisfitctiol~ ;l,ild convcnieilcc in Iw!clit I!:HISTORY OF THE EDTTIONS. 55to the Catholicism we have been first taught.Now this Ihave nothing to say against. I have only to observe, thatsuch a conduct is founded on the most uiliversal and deterrniiiedscepticism, joined to a little indolence ; for morecuriosity and research gives a direct opposite turn from thesame principles.'During the same period Hume composed the ' Dialoguesconceriling Natural Religion,' of which Mr. Burton says :' The manuscript of this work is full of emendations andcorrections ; and while the sentiments appear to be substantiallythe same as whenthey were first set down, the alterationsin the method of announcing them are a register of theimprovements in their author's style, for a period apparentlyof twenty-seven years. Here at least he could not plead theexcuse of youth and indiscretion. The work, penned in thefull vigour of his faculties, comes to us with the sanction ofhis mature years, and his approval when he was within sightof the grave. Whatever sentiments, therefore, in this work,may be justly found to excite censure, carry with them areproach from which their author's name cannot escape.'Hume's friends prevailed on him not to publish the Dialogues,fearing that the odium under which be laboured,would be fanned to a flame, and the prospects of the authormaterially injured. In a letter to Elliot, dated March 12,1763, he complains: ' Is it not hard and tyrannical in you,more hard and tyrannical than any act of the Stuarts, not toallow me to publish nly Dialogues P Pray, do you not thinkthat a proper dedication may atone for what is exceptionablein them P I am become of my friend Corbyn Morrice's mind,who says, that he writes all his books for the sake of thededications.' Such cauti~n was unnecessary, when Hu~nesettled down to pass the remainder of his days in ease andconlfort at Edinburgh, enjoying an abundant income, andsurrounded by a society of agectionate friends, familiar withhis tenets and not likely to be estranged by any new publi-cation of them. Yet the Dialogues remained in manuscript.The history of their posthumous publication will be foundat p. .77.These four years must have been the busiest period ofHume's lifetime. Not content with preparing the new editionof the Essay on the Human Understanding, and writingLife, rol. i. p. 3115. Ibid. p. 328. ILid. rol. ii, p. 146.